transcription, транскрипция: [ ʃɔ:(r)t(ə)n ]
( shortens, shortening, shortened)
1.
If you shorten an event or the length of time that something lasts, or if it shortens , it does not last as long as it would otherwise do or as it used to do.
Smoking can shorten your life...
When the days shorten in winter some people suffer depression.
≠ lengthen
VERB : V n , V
2.
If you shorten an object or if it shortens , it becomes smaller in length.
Her father paid £1,000 for an operation to shorten her nose...
As they shorten, cells become more prone to disease and death.
≠ lengthen
VERB : V n , V
3.
If you shorten a name or other word, you change it by removing some of the letters.
Originally called Lili, she eventually shortened her name to Lee.
VERB : V n
4.
to shorten the odds: see odds